Everything you learned in school and know about writing is wrong. Adverbs are bad verbs. The writing world is different than the educational writing world.
Learning to write well is like learning a new language. There are many rules and guidelines that schools teach you, but in reality there’s no right or wrong way of doing things when it comes down just writing creatively for your own personal satisfaction – at least not until we get into the nitty-gritties: adverbs versus verbs; passive voice over active suddenly becomes important (hint hint); how long should sentences be? What kind?? Umm.. anyways
Tips
In Episode 7 of the Serious Writer Podcast Bethany Jett and Cyle Young discuss why everything you know about writing is wrong and what you can do to change it:
Go to a writers conference. Now.
Read in your genre and subgenre. Learn the style of that genre.
Get the resources you need from the beginning. (Emotions thesaurus & Story Trumps Structure)
TIP: The 1st book might not be published.
You can practice into publish later.
Fear: I won’t have another story after this one.
Tip: Learn the rules first before you break them.
Modern story is based on 3-act structure. Act 1 is short. Act 2 is rising action over the middle and it’s longer; character development. Climax. Act 3 is descending action.
Fantasy: Hero’s Journey of the 3-Act Structure.
04. Know how to structure a story.
05. Set a regular writing time period or a daily word count. Earnest Hemingway – writes 500 words a day. Stephen King writes 2000 words a day. Jack London – 1500. Mark Twain – 1400. Michael Crighton – 10,000 words – Jurassic Park. Suggestion – start lower until you’re consistent.
06. Just write and don’t edit.
07. Write in scene, not sequence. The Tik Tok guide to writing a book.
“The ones that work the hardest and hustle the most get the book deals.” – Cyle Young
“If someone tells you that you need platform, they’re just eliminating their competition.” — Bethany Jett
“…net of minutia…” – Cyle Young
“You don’t get a pass for being new.” — Bethany Jett
“An erratic writing life produces erratic results. A consistent writing life produces consistent results.” — Cyle Young
LINK: Bethany quoted Seth Godin as building the platform “three years” ago. Here’s the actual quote we need to share: “The best time to start that was seven years ago. The second best time is right now. So start!” – Seth Godin Reference link: https://writetodone.com/seth-godin-part-2/
1:26 10 Tips for children’s writing 1:42 Moral Dilemma 2:58 Entertainment 4:45 Hangout with kids (know your audience) 10:39 Short and Sweet 12:06 The mentor influencer research method 15:05 Social media and research 22:09 Fiction Writing Tips 23:29 Don’t start with “weather” 25:16 Prologues 32:21 NO Exclamation Points!!!!! (except for Bethany’s exception!) 35:55 Don’t use Dialects 38:15 Conclusion, Second Annual Intensive, and Contest Details
What is a character? A person, or rather something that’s made up of words and scenes. But why do we care about these imaginary people in the first place?! It can be difficult to put into words yourself but luckily I’m here with 5 tips on how your Fictional Character could become more immersive for you!
Heros need Flaws
Think about giving your main characters flaws. Your characters may be the heroes of their story, but nobody is truly perfect. Adding a flaw or two will make them more believable and sympathetic – just like you want your readers to feel when they’re reading about what happens next (and probably why this happened).
Backstory
When you create a character, it’s important that their past lives up to what they do in the present. Think about how every story has an origin and can be written as such–a beginning middle end with motivations behind each decision made along the way so we know why our main characters act like themselves now.
What’s the Motivation?
The best action is character-driven. You should try to base the plot of your story around the motivations and actions of characters, asking yourself “What is it that they trying to accomplish?” What do these people stand to lose or gain from this action/event? How might their goals change over time as well–throughout representing different challenges that arise along with new opportunities for growth along those paths.
Holdback
Withhold information from your readers. When writing fiction, only give them what they need to know at the moment and anything else can wait until later on in a much more engaging way than just telling it all upfront! The supporting details—like backstory–should remain unseen; just like how most people don’t actually see an iceberg’s mass underwater because of its size.
Mannerisms
The perfect character is one that you can’t help but love. To make your characters stand out from the crowd, try mixing in a few small details to give them an endearing quality or add some charm – this will create more memorable people! But don’t overdo it though; otherwise, they might come off as too unstable and unpredictable which would take away everything that makes them great characters for novels